My digital camera
(Olympus Camedia 830L)
(August 2000) I bought this camera a few months ago, and I've been using it fairly steadily ever since. Have a look at my feelings for this camera, especially if you're thinking of getting your own digital camera.
Buying the camera
I bought the camera more or less on impulse. Well, about as impulsive as I get. Guess I may have taken almost a week from the impulse to buy it until I finally did. The reason for the impulse was that I finally realized the price of such cameras with OK specs had dropped into a price range where I could buy one as a test - and not having to think it would be the only digital camera I ever bought.
I think that's a pretty healthy idea, that when you buy your digital camera, you tell yourself this is the first of many. Otherwise you'll go completely nuts each time a new model comes out with more resolution and better specs - at a lower price than what you payed for your camera a while ago. You have to accept that evolution, or else wait until the current technology has reached its limit (that's what they're trying to tell us now, that about 3.3 Megapixel is as high as the CCDs will go).
A friend of mine bought one of the first digital cameras that came out. It doesn't yield good results compared with mine, but as he said: 'It's been a very handy capture tool to use over the years'.
I can certainly say the same about mine. It's definitely worth its price as a capture tool. I don't think I could have bought the cheaper models with fixed focus and without an LCD screen. This camera is probably the beginning of the field for me. That's because of my background as a photographer. I still crave the specs of the best cameras ever made, and I also need strengths in other areas than my camera currently has.
Choosing the right camera
You need to assess your needs as a photographer. I've heard it said that you can make do with one of the cheapest models if you're going to use it on the web. I don't agree. Crap in, crap out. It's usable if you don't mind crappy photos - and then I mean about the league of the old instamatics and 110 cameras!!! So stear clear of anything with fixed focus, unless 'Instamatic quality' is OK.
The next stage is those with autofocus. Mine has. Still, don't expect the world. The photos still don't always come out sharp. More about my particular camera later.
The next stage again is with optical zoom. I haven't tried them, but my next camera definitely will have either zoom or at least tele option. The reason for this is that a wide angle lens (which most non-zoom cameras have) will distort faces, and I tend to try and fill the frame. You need a decent telephoto lens or zoom for that.
Next stage is one with both zoom and more resolution (3.x megapixel for instance). I've figured out that unless you've got resolution up the wazoo, the relative small size of a face in the frame often will make it very pixellated. I've seen photos taken with the new cameras, and the difference is night and day - if you need good quality portraits. The really good cameras will have good skin tone and you can take close ups of faces and they still look good (try that with wide angle!). Really important for the good photographer, but for the beginner - who cares? Most won't take close ups of people anyway, I guess?
I did buy a new camera, in 2002!
This page was created by Ann Elisabeth Nordbo
and has its home at http://www.annelisabeth.com/
Updated 12.26.2004
Created August 8th 2000